This image offers a stunning view of the Taklamakan Desert, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. It is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, and the Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan Mountains to the west and north.

Visible in the upper left quadrant are Lake Issyk Kul, dark blue, in Kyrgyzstan; part of Lake Balkhash, touching the left edge, in southeastern Kazakhstan; and Lake Alakol, just east of the former, also in Kazakhstan.